Belize is truly a multicultural society. Mestizos make up more than 60% of the population. These are persons of European and Maya heritage, typically speaking Spanish as a first language and having social values more closely associated with Latin America than with the Caribbean. Mestizos are concentrated in northern and western Belize. There is often a distinction made between Mestizos who came to Belize from the Yucatán during the Caste Wars of the mid-19th century and more recent immigrants from Central America. Mestizos are the fastest growing segment of the population. Creoles, once the dominant ethnic group in the country, now make up only about 25% of the population. These are people usually but not always of African heritage, typically speaking Creole and English and often having a set of social values derived from England and the Caribbean. Creoles are concentrated in Belize City and Belize District, although there are predominantly Creole villages elsewhere, including the village of Placencia. Maya constitute about 11% of the population. There are concentrations of Yucatec Maya in Corozal and Orange Walk districts, Mopan Maya in Toledo and Cayo districts, and Kekchí Maya in about 30 villages in Toledo. Garifuna (also known as Garinagu or Black Caribs) make up about 6% of the Belizean population. They are of mixed African and Carib Indian heritage. Most came to then British Honduras from Honduras in 1830s. Dangriga and Punta Gorda are towns with large Garifuna populations, as are the villages of Seine Bight, Hopkins and Barranco.
The “Other” group, making up about 8% of the population, includes several thousand Mennonites who came to Belize from Canada and Mexico in the 1950s. Divided into conservative and progressive groups, they farm large acreages in Belize. Conservatives live mostly in Shipyard, Barton Creek and Little Belize, avoid the use of modern farm equipment and speak German among themselves. Progressives live mostly in Blue Creek, Progresso and Spanish Lookout. Belize also has sizable communities of East Indians, who live mainly around Belize City and in Toledo, Chinese, mostly from Taiwan, living in Belize City and elsewhere, Lebanese and “Gringos,” mostly expats from the U.S. and Canada concentrated in San Pedro, Placencia, Cayo and around Corozal Town. Belize predominantly is a country of the young. More than two out of five Belizeans are under 15 years.
Many writers have tried to capture the essence of Belize, what it is and who are the people of Belize. Bruce Barcott, author of The Last Flight Of The Scarlet Macaw (ISBN-10: 1400062934), attempted to say it in a nutshell:
“Belize goes unnoticed by the rest of the world, and over the years the country has parlayed its obscurity into an attractive asset. For those shipwrecked on the shoals of life, Belize offers a new beginning.
“The country teems with adventurous refugees who’ve set up shop in the middle of the Central American jungle. British innkeepers, Mennonite farmers, Chinese shopkeepers, Lebanese entrepreneurs, American missionaries, Canadian aid workers, and Dutch scientists live peacefully alongside the nation’s longer-established residents, Garifuna Culture artists, Maya cacao growers, Mestizo plantation managers, and Creole politicians who make up the majority of the country’s population. Belize draws the eccentric, the madcap, and the downright mad.”